No traces of glycol in paediatric syrup – Sahpra

The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) last week released the results of its investigation into two recalled batches of Benylin paediatric children's cough syrup, saying that it had found no traces of diethylene glycol. The toxic substance has been linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022, in one of the world’s worst waves of poisoning from oral medication. ‘Sahpra also wishes to indicate that there is no record of any adverse drug reactions relating to diethylene glycol for the two recalled batches in SA or anywhere else where they were exported to on the continent,’ the regulator said in a statement. News24 previously reported that Nigeria’s health regulator had recalled a batch of Benylin paediatric cough syrup that was reportedly produced in SA, amid claims that it contains an unacceptably high level of diethylene glycol. The syrup is used to treat cough- and congestion-related symptoms, hay fever and other allergic reactions in children. Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said laboratory analysis conducted on the product showed that it contains an unacceptably high level of diethylene glycol and was found to cause acute oral toxicity in laboratory animals.